While they are fun to watch (and bet on), I long ago stopped paying any attention to the Oscars as an indicator of whether I should see a film or not.
** What the nominations do, however, is three things: 1) they can enhance your interest in films you were on the "fence" about... 2) ...or never heard of... 3) ...and serve as a major factor in your decision to watch the awards at all. ** I predict Sunday's awards will be one of the lowest watched in America -- simply few people have seen the films nominated for best picture. ** Outside NY or LA -- it took a real effort to see the five films: Brokeback Mountain (esp. early on), "Crash," "Good Night, And Good Luck," "Capote" and "Munich." Not one of 'em is a "crowd pleaser" akin to the following Best Picture winners during the past 10 years: "Chicago," "Lord of the Rings," "Titanic," "Braveheart" and "Gladiator." ** Some films, like last year's "Million Dollar Baby" and 1999's "American Beauty" got a huge three-week post-award boost at the box office from people who actually WAITED until after the Oscars to decide what they'll see. ** I'm just disappointed that this is will be first year in recent memory whereby all five films nominated for Best Picture were "non-commercial," with 4 of the 5 "message" pictures that many people looking for a nice night out would rather not see except in a class room.. No "King Kong," no "Cinderella Man?" This ruins it for viewers, most of whom are left with just watching who shows up and what they're wearing. ** I'm not suggesting the Oscars should be equivalent to the People's Choice Awards (which I never watch) -- but you can't tell me "King Kong" -- despite its flaws -- didn't deserve a nomination for Best Picture. What, just because it was about a big ape? Now that we know what the Academy thinks is its "top five" -- I say, 'hey, even "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith" wasn't bad.' ** It's not up to me of course -- but "Crash," "Munich" and esp. "Good Night, And Good Luck" (a film that made my former profession, broadcast journalism, actually a dull and boring civics lesson) -- could've been easily replaced in the "final five" with better films, such as a well-written thriller like Woody Allen's "Match Point." -koose. ----Original Message Follows---- From: JR <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: JR <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Subject: Re: OSCAR TRIVIA and the Losers Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2006 02:06:44 -0500 > And the Bluebird - a far superior film, though very similar. > to OZ - was ignored then, and is still ignored. Wow, I'll say... I don't even know what film you're talking about here. Details? I think one mistake people make when comparing Oscars given or not given over the past decades is to assume that "The Academy" is some kind of consistent and even monolithic organization, when in fact it is simply made up of those who work in the industry and qualify to vote for the awards in any given year. It's actually a very small group of voters whose tastes can fluctuate wildly over the space of a few years. You have periods when the members are giving the award mostly to the big money-makers and other periods where everything goes to the arty films. Rarely do you have any genuine critical balance where the results for the big-category winners are concerned... it's all too dependent on the political and social fashion among the "in crowd" at the time. Now, lower down the food chain in the less-publicized categories, you tend to get more realistic appraisals and awards given on recognized standards of merit, since they limit voting in those categories to other members who work in the same field or have some expertise in it. That's why they specify them as "technical awards". But where the big-categories are concerned, there really has been precious little consistency or predictable standards applied for choosing the winners over the years, and this year doesn't look to be any different. While they are fun to watch (and bet on), I long ago stopped paying any attention to the Oscars as an indicator of whether I should see a film or not. -- JR Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
